Please join CHLAP during Pro Bono Week for its presentation "Common Issues and Resources for Homeless or At-Risk Individuals" on Oct. 27! Remember, CHLAP volunteers will receive 3.5 hours of CLE credit FREE. Featured speakers include
Judge Kristin W.
Sweeney of the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court, public defender David King, and Kari Coniglio of Benesch,
Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP.

We also encourage you to attend the Domestic Relations CLE immediately following the CHLAP seminar, hosted by the 8th Appellate District Pro Bono Committee at the Justice Center in collaboration with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. By special invite, CHLAP volunteers will receive 2.5 hours of CLE credit at the seminar free!

For a calendar of brief advice/intake clinics during Pro Bono Week, please visit the Legal Aid website at www.lasclev.org. Volunteers are asked to take special note for their clients of the Expungement Clinic taking place on Oct. 27 at the Legal Aid building on W. 6th from 3:30-5:00 p.m. (attendance by appointment only at (216) 687-1900).

Cleveland Fugitive Safe Surrender Brings
in Record Number of Participants

On Sept. 26, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the Fugitive Safe Surrender program in a Cleveland suburb set a national
record by drawing 7,431 people looking to resolve outstanding
warrants for their arrest in a neutral location. The
FSS program offered fugitives the chance to meet with attorneys, court clerks,
and judges at a non-threatening setting from Sept. 22-25. The voluntary surrenders at Mt. Zion Church in Oakwood
Village meant reduced
fines and sentences, reinstated driver's licenses, and better employment
prospects for most of the low-level offenders who came to resolve warrants for
their arrest that had been outstanding for months or even years. Municipal and common pleas judges were able
to close many of the cases on-site, while warrants were canceled for
other attendees and new court dates set with the assurance that appearing would
result in lower fines. The event is the
second such to be held in Ohio
in recent years, the first of which in 2005 drew 838 people total over four
days.Click here for the full article.

School Closures Hit Homeless Students Hard, Study FindsOn Sept. 24, Education Week reported that some research is beginning to suggest that nationwide, the push to shutter low-performing or financially
unsustainable schools is starting to conflict with the even sharper
rise in homeless students. The latest of those studies, released last week by the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness in New York City, found that closings of low-performing schools often disproportionately affected schools attended by
homeless students and that those students, arguably among the system's
most vulnerable, received little support for making the transition to a
new school. The New York study is limited and ongoing, but highlights problems in
planning, transition support, and monitoring of homeless students after
closure.Click here for the full article.

Homeless Youths Most Vulnerable to Crime and Violence;Attacks on Homeless Become Hate Crimes in FloridaOn Sept. 28, Sify News reported that a new report has revealed that homeless young
people are victims of crime at rates that society would consider
unacceptable for any other group. Researchers at York University and the University of Guelph found more than 76 percent of the homeless youth surveyed said they had been victims of violent crime in the past year, compared with about 40 percent of young people in the general population. The Florida AP reports that Florida recently became the fifth state along with the District of Columbia to classify attacks on the homeless with prejudice as a hate crime, meaning that such attacks will come with steeper consequences.Click here for the full Sify article, or here for the full Florida AP article.

Volunteer SpotlightBrian LambThompson Hine LLPBrian has taken the lead in creating the Cleveland Lawyers' Initiative on Reentry (CLIR), a group dedicated to helping remove the legal barriers for reentry employment candidates. Brian has established a calendar of trainings for volunteers and helps staff the monthly intake sessions now being held at the North Star Neighborhood Reentry Resource Center. To reach Brian or to get involved with CLIR, please email him or call (216) 566-5590.

This partnership between the CMBA and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for
the Homeless aims to serve those in the community in need of help but
least able to access legal assistance. Volunteer lawyers staff regularly scheduled sessions at many locations throughout
Cleveland, including homeless shelters, to provide legal advice and
assistance to homeless or at-risk individuals. Attorneys volunteer
at varying levels of commitment, from helping with intake interviews
and providing brief advice to accepting referrals for direct extended
representation.